Archive for the ‘Energy’ Category

The speech by former US Vice-President Al Gore was apocalyptic. ‘The North Polar ice cap is falling off a cliff,’ he said. ‘It could be completely gone seven years from now.’ Those comments came in 2007 as Mr Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaigning on climate change. But seven years after his warning, only his heavy investments in climate change stocks have turned out to be correct. More…

In Boston, Staten Island, and Indianapolis, Google’s cars were equipped with methane sensors, to pinpoint the locations and severities of thousands of natural gas leaks, a chronic problem for many cities. The cars pinpointed the size and locations of several thousands of gas leaks from distribution pipes that snake under the cities’ streets. More…

The US has actually been cooling since the Thirties, the hottest decade on record. Now another example has been uncovered by Steven Goddard’s US blog Real Science, showing how shamelessly manipulated has been one of the world’s most influential climate records, the graph of US surface temperature records published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). More…

Tesla’s stock value has recently doubled to more than $90 a share. That gives them a total market value of $10.6 billion, greater than that of Italian automaker Fiat, worth less than $8 billion. In the first quarter of this year, Fiat sold 1 million cars and made a $40 million profit. Tesla sold 4,900 cars and lost $53 million – or more than $10,000 per car. More…

EV buyers have long received a federal tax credit of $7,500, but electric vehicles use the same roads, the same bridges and the same infrastructure as the rest of us. Since they don’t burn gasoline, they’re immune from paying taxes at the pump to fund that infrastructure. That’s going to change. More…

A report tying the Chinese military to computer attacks against American interests has sent a chill through cyber-security experts, who worry that the very lifelines of the United States — its energy pipelines, its water supply, its banks — are increasingly at risk. More…

For 35 bewildering minutes Sunday night, the Super Bowl showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers ground to a halt when half of the lights in the New Orleans Superdome went out. Whose fault was it? The power company said it wasn’t to blame, and stadium officials apologized but said little else until well after the game. More…

The rich shale oil formation deep below the rolling pastures in Williston, N.D. has attracted droves of young men to work the labor-intensive jobs that get the wells flowing and often generate six-figure salaries. What the oil boom has not brought, however, are enough single women.” More…

More than three decades before Superstorm Sandy, a state law and a series of legislative reports began warning New York politicians to prepare for a storm of historic proportions, spelling out scenarios eerily similar to what actually happened: a towering storm surge; overwhelming flooding; swamped subway lines; widespread power outages. But most of the warnings went unheeded. More…

Battery maker A123 Systems Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, drawing criticism from Republicans who claim the Obama administration continues to waste millions of taxpayer dollars on alternative energy companies like A123. The company received a $249 million Department of Energy grant with high hopes that it would help foster a U.S. battery industry. More…

A supervisor for a nuclear energy plant in Michigan is in trouble after being caught drinking on the job. When the man showed signs of intoxication, DTE administered an alcohol test. The utility company says the worker is being disciplined and is no longer allowed on the plant side without an escort. The plant represents 30-percent of of all nuclear energy generated in Michigan. About 900 people work at the facility in Newport. More…